Jack from Ohio Posted January 23, 2014 Report Posted January 23, 2014 There is another issue afoot. The back-up folder for 2013 will grow by as much as 1GB per client. If you are choosing to use the option for backing up to an additional location such as a flash drive or external drive, this can be a big problem. It can also cause a problem for hard drive space on the C drive of the computers whether the server, standalone or workstation. The program filled the C drive on my server at the firm to 95% from just under 40% originally, in just the 6 weeks I have been testing and working with the program. The Back-up folder was 90GB with just over 200 clients in my testing program. The problem is still inherent in the program. At my home office, I had the same issue and found the back-up folder for ATX2013 to also be the source. I have already reported this to the development team and today received a response. The problem has been solved and will be included in a future program update. I will also be contacted with a short term fix for this issue. Just as soon as tech support contacts me with a workaround, I will post it here. Till then, if you notice your system running slow, look at the amount of free space on the C drive. If the free space is not at least 10-15% of the total drive space, this may be part of the problem. When a drive gets below 10% free space, it's efficiency drops dramatically. 8 Quote
BulldogTom Posted January 23, 2014 Report Posted January 23, 2014 Thanks for the update Jack. I appreciate your dilligence in getting to the right people who will listen at ATX. I will be looking for your updated information on this issue. Tom Hollister, CA Quote
jklcpa Posted January 23, 2014 Report Posted January 23, 2014 Jack, thanks for posting this. I pinned this for now to keep it at the top. Once that permanent fix is applied by ATX via that future update, would you please post that information here so that KC or I can unpin this topic? 1 Quote
Tax Prep by Deb Posted January 23, 2014 Report Posted January 23, 2014 I agree, it was eating my external drive, haven't checked C drive yet. Thanks Jack! Quote
Pacun Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 will "NOT BACKING UP" become a work around? Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Posted January 24, 2014 will "NOT BACKING UP" become a work around? Nope. Read my entire post. Quote
Pacun Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 OK. Then I will back up to a 2 gig jump drive and see what happens when it fills up. I rather do that rather than killing my virtual memory space. I wonder what will happen to some computers when their drive C: fills up completely. Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Posted January 24, 2014 OK. Then I will back up to a 2 gig jump drive and see what happens when it fills up. I rather do that rather than killing my virtual memory space. I wonder what will happen to some computers when their drive C: fills up completely. 2GB will probably not hold the file. Read my initial post in its ENTIRETY!! Quote
Pacun Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 The idea is to force the program not to back up. Has anyone run out of space on a jump drive and see what happens? I guess I will not be rolling over more than one test return so I don't overload my HD. Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Posted January 24, 2014 The idea is to force the program not to back up. Has anyone run out of space on a jump drive and see what happens? I guess I will not be rolling over more than one test return so I don't overload my HD. Not possible. This is one of the traits of a true server compliant program. 64GB flash Drives are $39. 2TB external drives are $99. These are the sizes you should be using for backups. Quote
BulldogTom Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 The idea is to force the program not to back up. Has anyone run out of space on a jump drive and see what happens? I guess I will not be rolling over more than one test return so I don't overload my HD. Yes. I am the one who first discovered this issue and asked Jack in OH to take a look at it. I have 8 gig flash drives and when I tried to back up to it, it told me that it would not start the backup because there was not enough space on the drive I was backing up to. Now, that is not my autobackup location. I was putting it on a flash drive to take it off site for emergency precautions. My normal backup location is on my C drive. Tom Hollister, CA Quote
Yardley CPA Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 Thanks to both Bulldog Tom and Jack for looking into this and providing information for us. Much appreciated. Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Posted January 24, 2014 I am currently online with tech support working on a remedy. More information as I get it. Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Posted January 24, 2014 62 minutes now... Could be interesting!! Here I am at the cutting edge again!!! Quote
jshtax Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 Looks like that cheap open source Raven is up to its old tricks. Quote
jshtax Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 Is the backup on the Server or each workstation? I am assuming the server and based on what you are saying If we have a 2 250GB hard drives and over 1000 returns we wont make it. Quote
kcjenkins Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149450 5 star rated: Toshiba MG03ACA MG03ACA200 2 TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $185. WD WDBH2D0030HNC-NRSN 3TB IntelliPower SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Mainstream Internal Hard Drive-Retail kit $146. WD AV-GP WD40EURX 4TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" AV Video Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive $190. 4 star rated: Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive $88. Quote
SFA Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 Carbonite Server Pro Bundle: 500 GB $999.00 http://www.carbonite.com/backup/pricing-plans/server-plans Quote
Randall Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 I think large low cost drives are beside the point. If ATX is hogging that much space for backup files, something is wrong. If they don't fix it, I may be using Drake sooner than expected. Already have both programs installed and paid for. Was planning to give ATX the benefit of the doubt for 2013 and give Drake a good comparison look. That's why I bought both programs. Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted January 25, 2014 Author Report Posted January 25, 2014 Currently, the development team is TOTALLY AWARE (partly due to Tom and I) of the problem. I was on the phone 3 1/2 hours testing a workaround. The problem will be corrected very soon in a program update. If anyone has hard drive space issues, I have a temporary fix I can assist you with. Far too complex to list on here, but if anyone has this issue, send me a PM and I will gladly help get you back to normal. I have tested this fix on the server at my firm, and my computer here at home. I can assure you it will work. 2 Quote
SFA Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 It's too soon for us to be overly concerned. Will wait for a fix from ATX. Hopefully, our cloud storage will be sufficient for all open years of ATX; QuickBooks files, etc. We also have external drive backup procedures in place. We consider the Carbonite/cloud backups as a last resort, because the download time can take days if we have a total collapse of our system. Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted January 25, 2014 Author Report Posted January 25, 2014 It's too soon for us to be overly concerned. Will wait for a fix from ATX. Hopefully, our cloud storage will be sufficient for all open years of ATX; QuickBooks files, etc. We also have external drive backup procedures in place. We consider the Carbonite/cloud backups as a last resort, because the download time can take days if we have a total collapse of our system. It will fill the hard drive on your computer. I am talking about the backup file the program makes. Quote
SFA Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 It will fill the hard drive on your computer. I am talking about the backup file the program makes. You are right. It's not just our backup space, it is the hard drive on the live computer. Argh!!! Solution needed ASAP!!! So the expanded hard drive space is what we need to address as well. Good to know, my tech man is coming to the office this afternoon. I have a six-pack waiting for him! Quote
Pacun Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 While hard disk space is dirt cheap, dealing with a computer without a page file might not be pleasant. They need to fix it soon. We are talking about many potential and/or eventual issues here. That's without mentioning that your backup software will run extra hours, your hard disk could become fragmented, and everything could be slow. Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted January 25, 2014 Author Report Posted January 25, 2014 You are right. It's not just our backup space, it is the hard drive on the live computer. Argh!!! Solution needed ASAP!!! So the expanded hard drive space is what we need to address as well. Good to know, my tech man is coming to the office this afternoon. I have a six-pack waiting for him! Check your messages. Quote
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